Training with Pain #19: Losing 4kg Wasn't For Me

Three weeks of IAC strength classes since being back and I am loving it. I bounce around the 6:30am, 9:30am and 5pm classes and they're so much fun to get involved in.

I'm starting to feel my strength coming back after the break and I think that's partly down to consistency with my training again, but also being a little heavier and eating more.

I ended up at 74kg in July, down from around 78kg while training for the half marathon. At the same time my strength work dropped to two sessions per week because running had become the priority.

I felt weaker and I didn't particularly like how my tops were hanging off me.

I knew it was only temporary because I'd made a decision to go all in on the half marathon and get as close to 90 minutes as I possibly could.

Don't get me wrong, I felt like I was flying when I was running. Being lighter probably contributed to that, alongside the massive increase in running volume and fitness. But day to day, I much prefer sitting a little heavier.

Since increasing my food again, particularly carbohydrates, my strength in the gym has started moving nicely. I'm lifting more and my endurance across the sets feels much better.

Carbohydrates are particularly useful around higher volume training because they help replenish the muscle glycogen we're using during our sessions. If you're training hard several times per week but constantly under fuelling, at some point you're probably going to notice it.

I'm currently eating somewhere around 3,500-3,750 calories per day. I worked with Emily last year on the structure of my food, so I've gone back to that and made some small tweaks based on her advice.

It currently looks roughly like this:
Calories: 3750 kcal
Protein: 250g
Carbohydrates: 442g
Fat: 82g

And before anyone copies that into MyFitnessPal, remember that's based on me, my bodyweight and the amount of training I'm currently doing. Your requirements could look completely different.

Training for me is mainly about getting stronger, building muscle, moving well and being physically capable.

But we all want to look a little better too, right?

You can absolutely work on performance and aesthetics at the same time, but this is where getting your nutrition right pays dividends.

I find the food side pretty easy because most days I eat the same damn thing. My pre-training, intra-training, post-training breakfast, lunch and snacks barely change, and then I flirt between a few different dinners.

It might sound boring, but it makes being consistent very easy.

If I start getting a little too fluffy, I'll pull things back slightly, but not to the point where my training performance suffers. At this stage I'm enjoying feeling stronger again far too much.

Thursday's Upper Session

Last thursday's session focused heavily on our shoulders and back, with the main movement being the strict press.

I love the strict press.

You're standing, the bar starts around the shoulders and you have to create enough force to press it overhead without using your legs to help you. That asks a lot from the shoulders and triceps, but also requires plenty from the upper back and midline to keep you in a strong position.

From our clinical/gym point of view, it's also a great movement because it gives us a really clear picture of where someone might be struggling.

If you find it difficult to initiate the press from your shoulders, we might need to improve strength through that first part of the movement. If you get the bar moving but struggle through the middle, the delts and triceps have to work bloody hard through that sticking point. If you can press it but struggle to finish strongly overhead, we might look at triceps strength, shoulder mobility or how well you're positioning the shoulder blade and upper back.

Then there's everything happening underneath the bar.

Your ribs can't be flying forwards (demonstrated in the above image), your lower back shouldn't be doing all of the work and you need enough shoulder mobility to actually get your arms overhead comfortably. When someone lacks that overhead position, you'll often see them compensate elsewhere to find it.

This is one of the reasons we don't just think about exercises in terms of what muscle they train. Yes, the strict press builds shoulders and triceps, but doing it well requires strength, mobility, coordination and control throughout the body.

And when you start getting strong at pressing weight above your head, it feels bloody good.

Clinic — Movement Culture

We're up and running at our new home in Altona and I had a brilliant day on Tuesday seeing some really cool clinical cases.

There was one in particular I wanted to talk about.

A painful lower back after kicking a ball around with his kids.

Want to know why I wasn't overly concerned about the lower back?

Once we went deeper into the assessment, the back pain looked like one part of a much bigger picture. There appeared to be some neural sensitivity through the leg and certain positions were reproducing his symptoms. Painful and annoying, yes, but based on the assessment there were also several other things I was much more interested in changing over the coming months.

This is what we found:

High levels of work stress.

He hadn't trained properly since an operation earlier in the year and openly admitted motivation had been poor.

He was worried about reinjuring a hamstring he'd previously strained.

His affected hamstring was producing around 20% of the force compared to the other side.

More generally, he just wasn't feeling particularly good.

If I only treated where it hurt and sent him home, I think we'd be missing a massive opportunity.

So our plan looks more like this:

Settle the back symptoms in the short term and gradually restore comfortable movement.

Stop waiting for motivation and start building a training habit through his rehab sessions.

Improve the hamstring strength deficit and build his confidence in that leg again.

Gradually move from 'rehab' into a proper training schedule.

Give him something consistent each week that can hopefully have a positive effect on his mood, confidence and how he manages stress.

That bigger picture is the stuff I love working on.

Of course I want his back to feel better, but imagine where he could be a few months from now if we get all of the other pieces moving in the right direction as well.

Training consistently again. Hamstring stronger. More confident using his body. Back settled. Feeling fitter and generally feeling better about himself.

Tell me that doesn't make you excited for him?

I LOVE THAT JOURNEY.

My job is to keep him accountable, adjust things when we need to and guide the process. His job is to keep showing up and putting in the effort.

I absolutely hate not getting results. I'm like a dog with a bone when I know there are things we can work on that could make a genuine difference to someone.

And I know plenty of you reading this have been through something similar yourselves. You might originally come through the door because something hurts, but a few months later you realise how much else has changed along the way.

Such a good feeling, right?

That leads me onto...

Referral Programme

Thank you to everyone who has referred friends and family to us.

It means a lot that you trust us enough to send someone you care about our way and give them the opportunity to experience what it feels like to get moving again, improve their strength and start taking control of their health.

If you know someone who needs our help, get them on board.

They can dip their toe in with a free:

Gym consultation

Medical

3 x small group PT classes

We'd love to help. Get them booked in for a gym consultation here.

Conditioning Class

Monday to Friday brings the strength.

Saturdays bring the fitness.

We saw some new faces last weekend and there are more booked in for this Saturday. Brilliant to see.

I know the conditioning class can feel a little scary if fitness isn't currently your strong point.

We will work hard, for sure, but that's no different to what happens Monday to Friday. The main difference on Saturday is that we're deliberately getting your heart rate higher and challenging your cardiovascular fitness.

BUT...

It's still delivered at the dose that you require.

We're not here to annihilate you. We're here to build you up.

If someone else is running and you're not ready to run, we'll change it. If a particular movement isn't right for you, we'll find another option. The aim is to challenge your current fitness enough that your body has a reason to adapt, then gradually increase what you're capable of.

The same principles we use with strength apply here. Start at the right level, progressively challenge yourself and keep turning up.

So if you're low-key wanting to try it but worried you won't be able to keep up, get yourself booked on.

You don't need to keep up with anyone.

Just come and train.

It will be fun! 😉

Christmas BBQ

Save the date: Saturday 19th December, 10:30am.

We'll have a big conditioning class at 9:30am followed by a BBQ afterwards.

Come and train, hang around afterwards and we'll have some food together to finish off the year.

Save the date and book on via 'Courses' in the app.

Future IAC Member Workshop Insights

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We want as many opinions as possible so we can make the next member workshop something you genuinely want to come along to.

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Chat next week,
Craig